Per Artem ad Deum. Music as spiritual theology. How is music part of theology?

Michelle Castelletti FRSA, New College, Oxford, Director of the Oxford Festival of the Arts.

Gubaidulina – Pärt – Penderecki – Hildegard von Bingen – Gorecki – MacMillan – Bach.  What do these composers have in common?  Is it that they are responding to a need for the soul to be elevated through the sensorial experience, hoping to create an abstract sense of encounter with God?

“The new music that we—as composers—are always seeking […] arises from deep within our creative imaginations and […] from deep within our souls. It is music that emerges when the silent composer descends into a deeper silence, an objective other place or state to which he or she adheres and of which he or she has become an extension. Silence listening to silence.” – James MacMillan.

Are we, as creatives within the search for a spiritual theology, constantly trying to find the apex of Goodness – Truth – Beauty?  This evening, we shall attempt to look at some of these composers’ works through a spiritual lens.

Dr Michelle Castelletti identifies as an interdisciplinarian, who thrives on the wonderful encounter between academia and creativity.  As a curator, artist, and an historian, she is always seeking interconnectedness. She is winner of several international awards, including the Times Higher Education Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts and the OPUS KLASSIK Award.  Michelle’s work is performed across the world, by many orchestras and ensembles (e.g. BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic), receiving the highest accolades including No 1 Orchestral Choice of the Month [BBC Music Magazine, The Proms Edition].  She is published by Universal Edition Vienna and recorded by BIS Records, ALTUS Records and ARS Produktion.

Her latest talks on music were on Bach’s ‘Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe’ at New College Oxford, ‘Music as Political Commentary’ at Jesus College Cambridge, and ‘Vibrancy of monastic life and sacred polyphony: Was sacred music collateral damage of the Reformation/s; or was it what made it the glorious tradition we know and love today?’ together with Professor Elizabeth Gemmill, for the Oxford Festival of the Arts, of which she is the director.  Michelle is currently researching the medieval concept of ‘wonder’ (admiratio) in ecclesiastical architecture, with a focus on the creation and use of ‘light’ in late medieval devotional practice.  She is proud to be part of the Blackfriars community.

Tickets: Free
Venue: Blackfriars Hall - St Giles Oxford, OX1 3LY United Kingdom Array ( [lat] => 51.756248 [lng] => -1.259881 )